Danica Mackay: PCLI has meant to staff at Cumberland basically change.
Change is usually resisted but definitely as they can see the positive outcomes PCLI has achieved.
They've definitely come around and come on board and they can see that we're trying to make a difference for the better but it's definitely rewarding.
Brendan Liddle: We now have multiple consumers leaving this hospital to their new homes, where they can finally have some choice and control in their lives that they never had here before.
PCLI is defined by partnership. It's defined by collaboration. It's defined by working together in the best interests of the client.
Dr Pradeep Jarabandahalli: It started with the notion of hospitals not being a home for the consumers when the PCLI was initially commenced and so it meant change in our practice.
Change in the culture. Change in our approach. Change for our patients. So change is the big word here.
Brendan Liddle: I think one of the most extraordinary changes is actually when our clients leave hospital. I'm routinely told for a lot of our most complex consumers, “Well, we'll expect them back in two weeks’ time. We don't know if this is going to work out.”
I mean they leave this hospital and you can see them starting to flourish and change in ways that we never thought was possible here in the hospital setting. They've been here for years. It's you know, oh, this is chronic. Out in the community, when they're going out on a daily basis, when they've got a routine, when they've got something to look forward to.
they've got something that they can say: “this is mine” - It's just without comparison.
Dr Pradeep Jarabandahalli: The changes for the consumers that we have observed and seen actually here is:
So they have a familiar face that is helping them through their hospital stay; transitioning into the community and continuing to care for them in the community while they get reintegrated and function much better than what they've ever been.
Milu Francis: Since PCLI has been introduced to Cumberland hospital I've noticed a significant reduction in the length of stay of consumers. The MDTs (Multi Disciplinary Teams) have quite embraced the PCLI team and we've been able to collaborate and work effectively in managing safe and secure transitions back into the community.
Danica Mackay: I know one particular consumer I worked with who was quite guarded, reserved and shy.
You know wouldn't really speak much and after living in the community you can see her just blossoming. You know she's singing at the Christmas parties to an audience. So just seeing them light up a little bit and see their true self and just giving them more independence and more quality of life.
Brendan Liddle: For me the future of PCLI is a world where a client is never in hospital again for more than a year. We still have a long way to go and to me I'm seeing a more empowered workforce already from the changes that PCLI has brought.
Danica Mackay: The dream would be that no consumers even hit that one-year mark but yeah no more no more long-stay consumers that'd be that would be ideal.
Dr Pradeep Jarabandahalli: The outcome that we all want from the PCLI pathway and processes is there is a reduced length of extended stays within hospital for our mental health consumers, and more than all these things that they get the support they need in the community, where they can continue to function, prevent them returning to hospital.
So, I see a very bright future for PCLI, where they will continue to provide this kind of transitional pathways, support the consumers, cope with their complex needs in the community. We know that in the future we will continue to need the resources and expertise to facilitate transitions for patients in the early stages of their stay itself rather than waiting for years length of stay before they can be they can be attracted to the PCLI stage.